[EVENT] The Simulation Ends

[sixthiteration]

WHERE: 6I Fountain Park & Elsewhere
WHEN: April 1
OPEN TO: ALL - Mingle
WARNINGS: N/A

---

In the snug circle of an old park, a fountain sits burbling beneath a broad, midday sky.

Once-neat paving stones have buckled and cracked from the slow nudge of wayward roots. Benches stand covered in lichen and rust. Three paths push into the underbrush like the spokes on a wheel, the encroaching forest creating lush tunnels through the dark.

But the fountain stands singular and pristine, brightly splashing in open rebellion of the deep, muffled sounds of a place long ago gone to seed. A vibration hums through the ground, there and quickly gone, and the water in the fountain trembles, lapping against the high walls of its cool, pale reservoir.

Far, far away, in a place that isn't really there, people begin to blink out of existance.

It is the first of April.

It is precisely ten o'clock in the morning.



[Please see event details and guidelines here.]

Comments

[rangerbecket]

Raleigh had only come through a few minutes ago (and just after Beverly's group, even) so he's still overwhelmed at the whole goddamned thing. He'd known something was wrong about the village to begin with, even more so when he'd stumbled into the Drift a few weeks earlier, but this is not what he'd expected.

He thinks he's no worse for the wear other than shock but having been in the PPDC as long as he had, he's used to the routine checkups that happen as soon as you dock back into the Shatterdome. He doesn't really know Beverly other than to know her face and know she's a doctor and that's enough for him to submit to the exam.

"Think I'm all right other than a little shell shocked at the situation," he says. "But if you want to give me the clean bill of health, I'm good to let you do it."

[ethnobotany]

By now she's changed clothes and gotten herself more dry than damp so she doesn't risk freezing to death or catching cold. She's also found some towels that are more or less clean enough for use by the fountain. So she's taken up her doctor's duties again to make sure no one else comes through hurt or gets sick in the aftermath.

Her lips twist wryly at his words. "I think most of us are feeling the same," she agrees, though after passing him a towel so he can start drying off, she moves to give him something of a field exam. It's not much, but she can take his vitals at least and reassure them both that his body at least sounds normal.

"You look good to me," she says after a couple of minutes of checking him over. What she wouldn't do for a good medical tricorder right about now. "I would suggest getting into something else and drying off as best you can. From what I can gather, everything should be in our houses exactly as we left it. The Inn, too. So you should be able to find something dry to change into."

[rangerbecket]

"Good thing that's the case," Raleigh says, toweling himself off the best he can. He's worried about Sansa, though, so he'd rather figure out where she is before he goes off somewhere he might not be able to find her. She's tall and easy to spot but he doesn't see her in the crowd of people who are milling around the fountain at the moment.

"Hey, you wouldn't happen to have seen my wife, have you? Sansa Stark? Tall, long red hair? I don't really want to go tracing off to the house without knowing where she is and that she isn't injured. I don't want her to get lost or anything."

He's not going to leave her behind, especially when all of this is sheer chaos right now.

[ethnobotany]

The name "Stark" makes her think of Ned, but she shakes her head. She doesn't think she's seen anyone matching that description yet. That doesn't mean that Sansa hasn't come through, just that Beverly might not have seen her.

"You can ask the young man over there," she suggests, indicating Kira. "He seems to be keeping better track of who's come through than I can at this point. I'm guessing he was one of the first who came through. If I see Sansa, I'll tell her you're looking for her."

[rangerbecket]

Kira's someone that Raleigh knows even if it isn't well. Kira's been here from the beginning, like he has, and those of them that had arrived that first day tend to know one another on sight even if they don't interact on a daily basis. It makes sense he'd be taking inventory; he's been here to see everyone arrive.

"She's got to come through at some point," Raleigh says, though he thinks it's more for him than for Beverly's sake. "She's got a ton of family here. More family than anyone else has. If anyone has something tying her to this place, it'd be Sansa."

[ethnobotany]

"She will," Beverly says with conviction, though this is also more for Raleigh's sake than her own. They don't know that everyone will come through the fountain like they have. Given how many already have, it's a good bet that Sansa will as well. And hopefully she will soon, so Raleigh doesn't have quite as much to worry about.

"In the meantime, it would be better for you to get dry and into another set of clothes," she points out gently. "The next group won't be here for another fifteen minutes or so and there's no use in you getting chilled in this weather."

[rangerbecket]

"You're right. I would sit here and freeze to make sure Sansa was here but she's not going to want to take care of me if I have a cold," Raleigh says, laughing a little.

"Do you think I could help you with triage? It won't take me long to get changed and I want to be useful instead of sitting around and worrying. I'm no doctor but I can at least help get people over to the hospital if I have to."

[ethnobotany]

The idea of having help with triage is almost a relief to her and she nods fervently. "That would be a huge help," she admits wryly. "I think there are more medical people here, but just having someone else to help check on people and make sure no one needs any extra medical attention would be a lot of help."

Even if he just sticks around to find out if anyone has any aches or pains and shoves them in her direction would help.